About us

When Masibumbane started, the focus was on assisting sick and dying people. However, with the advent of anti-viral drugs (ARVs), the challenge shifted to assisting ‘well’ clients on ARVs; helping them to survive financially and to be able to enjoy their new found lease on life. Masibumbane is evolving from being primarily a relief agency to being a developmental agency, i.e. developing clients to earn an income.

Clients can derive income from three main sources. Firstly, there is formal employment which is the ideal. This is the hope for all our clients. However, with the high unemployment, permanent jobs are hard to find. Also, realistically speaking, many of Masibumbane’s clients, who tend to be from the lower end of the social spectrum in Mpophomeni, are not immediately suited to the formal job market. Secondly, there are social grants which form the basic income for almost all clients. But again these fall woefully short of clients’ needs. Thirdly, there is self- employment or entrepreneurship which is in many ways the best long-term option to be truly self-reliant. Hence homestead gardening and micro-business projects have become increasingly important projects for Masibumbane, but these come with many challenges.